Risebrough/Lemaire

April 17th, 2009

If any of you read the Strib sports section today, you probably saw Sid Hartman's article blasting Leipold for firing Risebrough.

Here is an excerpt: "Then Risebrough hit the jackpot drafting Marian Gaborik with the Wild's first-ever draft pick. Gaborik developed into an NHL superstar." You call drafting a player who missed about 25% of the games due to injury and was hobbled in another about 25% of them the jackpot? Yes, he's one of the most talented players in the league but it's time for him to go. You can't be spending that much cap room on a guy who isn't going to be there day in and day out. This was one of the many points in Hartman's article I disagreed with.

The fact is that it was time for Lemaire to go and time for Risebrough to go. Look at the spot we are in right now. Our best offensive players are Mikko Koivu and Owen Nolan. Koivu is a premier set-up man with no one to set up and Nolan is on the verge of retirement. We've got another pair of great set-up men in Bouchard and Brunette and again, they have no finishers with them. I don't know what Risebrough's philosophy was behind getting all playmakers and no finishers. We had a finisher too - Rolston - who Risebrough decided not to offer a contract to.

After reading about Leipold a fair deal since he bought the team, I fully believe he wants to put a winning team on the ice. With Lemaire as coach, I think some of the top offensive players in the NHL didn't really want to play for the Wild. People think they won't get their production with his coaching philosophy. We should be putting a playoff team on the ice year in and year out. This year was horrible. It was time for a complete retooling of the team. I'm hoping Leipold spends some money and gets the right guys for coach and GM. Look for a big name acquisition in the off-season (besides Saku Koivu - it sounds like he is already going to come.)

And just to finish, I do appreciate what Risebrough and Lemaire have done for the team over the last few years, but I just believe it is now time for a change.